Guillermo Perez survived several years in one of Fidel Castro's prisons, but nothing prepared him for what he experienced Friday.
"This is like you see you are going to die, and you see it coming for you."
Perez saw a wall of fire headed right for his home at the end of Markley Avenue, a dirt road in rural eastern Collier County.
"The fire department stopped the fire, it went around my home."
Guillermo decided to grab his wife and his pets and get out of the way.
"You don't have the opportunity to think nothing, only you need to move."
Although he lost one of his dogs due to the trauma of the evacuation, Guillermo is grateful the firefighters saved his home.
"I see these fireman like angels."
Forestry officials say the 30th Avenue Fire traveled 8 miles from Golden Gate Estates to near Guillermo's home before crews got a handle on it.
